Mario C. Diaz, Director of the City of Houston Department of Aviation, and Houston Mayor Annise Parker receive an model airplane from Lufthansa Airlines.

Photo By Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle

Entrance to the Lufthansa's A380.

Photo By Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle

Coach seats in the lower deck of the Lufthansa's A380.

Photo By Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle

Coach seats have TV screens to view movies.

Photo By Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle

John Karahalios, Lufthansa employee, talks about the spacious overhead compartments available for all passengers aboard the Lufthansa's A380 airbus.

Photo By Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle

John Karahalios, Lufthansa employee, shows a remote control available for TV screens for passengers aboard the Lufthansa's A380.

Photo By Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle

Michael Hoa, producer and reporter for the Saigon Network TV, demonstrates how passengers in business class can rest flat on their back while aboard the Lufthansa's A380 airbus.

Photo By Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle

First Class passengers can sleep on a seat that converts into a bed while aboard the Lufthansa's A380 airbus.

Photo By Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle

Wide and spacious seats available in First Class aboard the Lufthansa's A380 airbus.

Photo By Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle

First Class aboard the Lufthansa's A380 airbus.

Photo By Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle

Stairs to the top level where first class is located.

Photo By Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle

Pilots prepare to hand off the aircraft for the evening crew who will return to Germany.

Photo By Mayra Beltran

A member of the flight crew is dwarfed by the Airbus A380 on Wednesday as Lufthansa Airline's inaugural flight of the mammoth passenger plane arrives at George Bush Intercontinental from Frankfurt, Germany.

Photo By Mayra Beltran

Michael Hoa, producer and reporter for the Saigon Network TV, demonstrates how passengers can rest flat on their back while aboard the Lufthansa's A380 airbus on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012, in Houston. ( Mayra Beltran / Houston Chronicle )

Photo By Mayra Beltran

Guests find room to roam on tours of the A380's first-class section, where seats cost more than $14,000 each.

Photo By Mayra Beltran

Guests find room to roam on tours of the A380's first-class section, where seats cost more than $14,000 each.

When it first touched down at 1:37 p.m. Wednesday at Bush Intercontinental Airport, Lufthansa's Airbus A380 seemed like any other wide-body aircraft.

But by the time the double-deck, 526-seat monster - 93 percent full - had pulled up in front of two gates at Terminal D, it looked like exactly what it is: the world's largest passenger jet.

Because of its massive size and full upper and lower decks, fliers deplaned through two specially designed jet bridges from gates 12 and 12A before making their way to Customs.

As configured by Europe's largest airline, the aircraft has nearly 1½ times the seating capacity of a Boeing 747-800, the world's second-largest jetliner, meaning a 53 percent increase in capacity on Lufthansa's daily nonstop to Frankfurt, Germany, its largest hub.

Flight LH441 departs every day at 4:20 p.m. and arrives in Frankfurt at 9:05 a.m. the next day.

"It's like nothing I've ever experienced," said one flier, Moises Mendoza, recalling his business-class seat as comfortable and the aircraft as remarkably quiet during the more than 10-hour journey from Frankfurt.

The plane's eight first-class seats, which sold for more than $14,000 a pop, recline completely.

Mendoza, a former Houston Chronicle reporter, said passengers applauded during the takeoff and landing of the inaugural flight to Houston, which is the fourth U.S. city Lufthansa is serving with the jetliner.

One party not enough

The jet is the first full-on, double-deck aircraft to serve Bush Intercontinental, the first Texas airport to offer A380 service. The plane, which took to the skies in 2005, is known for being quieter and more fuel-efficient than many older airliners.

Lufthansa hosted two parties to mark the occasion - one for the public in an area just north of the airport that drew more than 300 spectators, and another in Terminal D attended by city officials, who used the occasion to trumpet Bush Intercontinental as a thriving hub.

"It's a huge economic driver," City Councilman Jerry Davis, whose District B encompasses Bush Intercontinental, said of the new A380 service. "Plus, it's making us actually renovate this terminal."

Mayor Annise Parker and the Houston Airport System's director, Mario Diaz, and chief operating officer, Lance Lyttle, noted that the first phases of a $17.1 million project to make Terminal D "A380-ready" came in under budget in just eight months, even though a consultant said it would take at least two years.

In a speech at Terminal D, Parker also touted Houston as "the first city to receive the A380 in the United States that's not on the East Coast or the West Coast."

Her remarks came amid recent flight cutbacks by United Airlines after the City Council agreed to open Hobby Airport to international commercial flights by Southwest Airlines.

"Bush Intercontinental will continue to be our flagship airport and we are going to do whatever is necessary to make sure that we grow business here as we are going to grow business in our other two airports," the mayor said.

Energy industry cited

Jürgen Siebenrock, vice president of the Americas for Lufthansa, cited the booming oil and gas industry as the key reason behind the German carrier's choice of Houston for A380 service.

"Lufthansa connects more than 35 oil and energy destinations in the world, and we believe the A380 will help us with our product," Siebenrock declared.

"My sales team has promised me that we will retain those high load factors - over 90 percent - in the coming months."

Siebenrock said Lufthansa's relationship with United, its biggest partner in the Star Alliance, also was key and that "without United, we could not connect into this big plane."

In February, about a month after the Houston Airport System had received notice to proceed on the first phase of the A380 project, Lufthansa sent Parker a letter saying the company would have to reconsider bringing the aircraft to Houston if the City Council approved Southwest's proposal for Hobby Airport.